Trump vs The Fed: How Political Pressure on Jerome Powell Could Shake the Markets

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0:31Such good feelings. Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A new year doesn't ask us to become someone new. It invites us back home to ourselves. I'm Mike Della Rocha, host of Sacred Lessons, a space for men to pause, reflect, and heal.

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2:38PNC Bank, National Association, member FDIC. Donald Trump and his Justice Department, they are investigating the Federal Reserve and the Federal Reserve Chief, Chair, chair jerome powell and um that's something that uh is pretty unprecedented at least that's what jerome had to say about it he said that um paraphrasing he said that this is this is because the refusal of of the fed dropping interest rates and the refusal of the fed um you know bowing to donald trump's demand i got this quote right here i got this quote i'll do the the threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the federal reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what was served the public rather than following the preference of the president this is where we're at this is where we're at yeah so long story short he said that on on friday they uh they served them with the investigation notification and uh he said that he would not back down and that is um it's it's dangerous waters when the fed loses its autonomy and becomes political because the federal reserve is not designed to become political it's not designed to answer to um politicians even the president but uh donald trump is not a traditional politician or a traditional president by any means and even at the last fed chair she spoke about this and she said that it sets a very dangerous precedent it's extremely bad extremely bad for the market and something that um you know needs to really be uh monitored so what are the thoughts on this will it impact the stock market the greater impact for the economy um what's the overall thoughts on the president putting almost criminal charges it looks like on uh one of the most powerful people in the world we gotta say a legend because allegedly he says he had no idea that it happened wow not surprising legal caught him bright early this morning.

5:07Well, when this first happened, and Rashad, you pointed this out when they had that meeting at the construction site, he's going to be vindictive because he doesn't need anyone to uncover how tumultuous our economic landscape is. I was talking about this on Stock Club, and we've talked about it on a show and privately. But how bad do things have to be for our country in order for you to move up the GDP from 1 % to potentially 5%, you had to form a coup in Venezuela to get resources. So the way he's running this is like a mob boss, allegedly. And any enemy combatant to the story is going to be punished.

5:51And it's the reason why this is so important, because they don't want the election to turn this year. and with J.D. Vance running. I think it's a terrible precedent. And also the Federal Reserve is a private entity. So if they begin to push back and those higher powers that be begin to push back on him, I don't think it would be great for our economy. A mistake in opposed to fixing the core problem, being punitive towards the chair because he didn't do what you want is a grand mistake. What do you guys think? yeah i mean when we saw it the other night it was just like yo it made me think about july that meeting when he he talked about the overspending uh and you know jerome kind of embarrassed him a little bit there you know he's a vindictive guy he's a guy that doesn't forget things he's gonna you know try his best to make sure that he gets his way and anybody that gets in that way it there's going to be consequences for it i think it's a terrible precedent right even if i mean to indict the fed chair and subpoena him is just like it's pretty i mean it's never happened on a warlord you got on a drug warlord yeah but what does it say about he he is the fed chair he has two seats right he's also the governor of of the fed so when he leaves in may at you know if when his time is up you still have to put some money in his place what does it say about the next person that goes into that seat right like are you going in there with no influence right or are you going in there because you've been hand selected because you know that the president's influence uh will be listened to and you will act on some of the things that he's asked for right he's been saying that we need to lower rates it's funny because we had three rate lowering uh happening during 2025 right that wasn't even expected right surprisingly Yeah, I was going to say that.

7:47Coming out of 2025, it was like we might get two cuts. Run a business and not thinking about podcasting? Think again. More Americans listen to podcasts than ad-supported streaming music from Spotify and Pandora. And as the number one podcaster, iHeart's twice as large as the next two combined. So whatever your customers listen to, they'll hear your message. Plus, only iHeart can extend your message to audiences across broadcast radio. Think podcasting can help your business? Think iHeart. Streaming, radio, and podcasting. Let us show you at iHeartAdvertising.com. That's iHeartAdvertising.com. A new year doesn't mean erasing who you were.

8:23It means honoring what you've survived and choosing how you want to grow. It means giving ourselves permission to feel what we've been holding and knowing that it's okay to ask for help. I'm Mike Dallarocha, host of Sacred Lessons. This podcast is a space for men to talk openly about mental health, grief, relationships, and the patterns we inherit, but don't have to repeat. Here, we slow down. We listen. We learn how vulnerability becomes strength and how healing happens in community, not in isolation. If you're ready to let go of what no longer serves you and step into the year with clarity, compassion, and purpose, Sacred Lessons is your companion on your healing journey.

9:10Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaRocca on America's number one podcast network, iHeart. Follow Sacred Lessons with Mike DeLaRocca and start listening on the free iHeart radio app today. New year, new goals, and in this economy, a better money plan is more necessary than ever. I am Matt. And I'm Joel. We are from the How to Money podcast, and every week we help you to spend smarter, save more, and make sense of what's going on out there. If you want 2026 to be the year you finally feel in control of your money, we're here to give you the tools and advice to help you make it happen. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

9:49Hey, what's up, y 'all? This is Questlove. Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with A$AP Rocky ahead of his album release, Don't Be Dumb. He reflects on his journey from his Harlem roots to global icon status, discovering the hip-hop origin of his name. The ledge was on the TV. Rakim had the bucket hat Kangol during the past. I was like, that's Rakim. That's who you named after. I just was like, damn, that **** got swag. Rocky offers a window into not only a boundary-breaking artist, but as a man committed to fusing creative ideas, community, and remaining unapologetically himself. Have you ever gotten roasted for any of your outfits?

10:27For sure. Some people don't be getting the vision. Look, they can roast me, they can cook me, they can deep-fry me, they can saute whatever they want. because nobody knew what my fashion sense and my taste is impeccable. I'm just like, I impress myself a lot. It's an amazing conversation. One, you definitely don't want to miss. So listen to the Questlove show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Maybe one. We got three. And if you look at the minutes from all those meetings, the person who was fighting for those rate cuts was Jerome Powell. it was your own pal he was the guy that was actually fighting inside those those means to make sure that we had three rate cuts to to attack them because you wanted more it's ridiculous now what does it say for the market it's interesting man you think about the past week like like you said venezuela you're talking about uh institutions can't buy single homes anymore you're talking about having a freeze on interest rates at 10 for credit cards all these things that are happening in let's say a 10-day span typically this crashes a market yep but here we are resilient still right like we didn't see a thousand point drop or a 500 point drop the dow opened down 300 it was like okay there's going to be some ramifications from an indictment from the fed chair but i mean it wasn't something right it's just it's so it's very interesting man risk is back on and no one cares about the long-term ramifications even with him one or more interest rates cuts it reminds me of oh five with the banking and subprime crisis everyone's thinking short term and to be very clear even with this point with the the fed chair he wants to do what he needs to do so his legacy is intact when he leaves office he's not thinking about the betterment of the country at all.

12:28Right. I feel like that's been the consensus. We've seen that over, I think he's going to be, it'll be a year on the 21st, right, since he was sworn in as president. He's thinking about his legacy from day one. He's thinking about his legacy, whether it was from policy, whether it was naming buildings after himself. It's all been about his legacy. It's going to continue to be that, including the Fed chair that he'll pick. well the crazy thing is that he picked he picked your own pal this is true so well some people would say that that was a forced pick that wasn't his true pick that he wanted that's who he could have selected at the time allegedly i mean but it's under his it's under his legacy yeah he got it he got a chance to pick that the fed chair he picked your own power okay he don't like him so he definitely wants he has who he wants to be the next fed chair and um i think that he he's project 2025 as far as consolidation of power and one of the main things that makes the american quote-unquote democracy different from a you know monarchy or totalitarian type state is that there's different branches of government have different powers and some branches actually are independent of the government like the federal reserve where in the traditional you know kingdom the king has pretty much a saying anything that happens from the military to the federal reserve system to you name it um and one of the things is everybody will probably 2025 was talking about the civil rights aspects and that's important but one of the main themes in project 2025 was to consolidate power power yep and that's what he's doing he did it with the Justice Department and now he's doing it with the with the Federal Reserve as far as to really be aggressive and pretty much saying like if you don't do it I'm gonna what I want you to do there's gonna be you know extreme consequences for that and try to force force a new Federal Reserve chair in it's pretty unprecedented I don't think it's ever actually even happened before so it's not it's unprecedented times that we're living in but it's it's not surprising if you really you know studied the playbook that they said they were going to do it's not a secret we're all the deniers remember i remember when you first start posting it and everyone was like oh this is fake and all of them are quiet even in the minneapolis issue we'll talk about that on blackout but everyone's quiet who said project 2025 was fake they're almost following it line by line yeah i think it's either you're you're negligent about it or complicit with it right like it's either or like if you acquire it that means all right well it's happening and you're like okay they said it would um but it's it's just is it surprising i don't i don't feel like it's surprising right like even from the world of investing right like when you're talking about lowering interest rates yeah that helps stocks out for sure does it help tech companies a hundred percent yeah but even at you know thinking about it's like the way that powell did it was very strategic like he he came out of a pandemic right there was all talks of recession we actually went into a recession we had a bull market a bear market we had all these things it was a soft landing there was stagflation it was inflation he managed it well he still managed all of that like i feel like the the tarnishing of his legacy is what what he's trying to do but i mean the the proof speaks for itself right you can't argue with his plan.

16:10That's a job most people wouldn't want. I wouldn't want it. I think he managed that incredibly well given the disaster that was put on his plate. And then to try and railroad him now because of a personal vendetta when he helped save you is insane. He actually did the thing you wanted. He just didn't do it as frequently. So from a stock market standpoint, like I said, the last Fed chair, she said that this is going to have a negative impact on the market. Maybe not in the week, but long term. So is this going to be bad for the stock market? As I stated last week, I think the first half of the year would be great.

16:50Around the time we get a lovely cover for InvestFest, get your tickets to InvestFest. Around that InvestFest time, we're going to see some turbulence. And that's the best time for you to be there, for me to be able to guide you on what to do. But the second half of the year is going to be trouble. And if they're talking about taking Greenland, the talks of Colombia, Nigeria and Cuba are picking up. The valuations of stocks are eroding in some sectors. There aren't as many GDP movers. And even in the collaboration, we'll talk about Lilly and NVIDIA later, Apple and Google. Usually when companies are coming together for these deep partnerships, it's to prevent from triage from happening.

17:34and they're building a moat together. So the second half of the year is going to be incredibly tough. Earners, what's up? You ever walk into a small business and everything just works? Like the checkout is fast, the receipts are digital, tipping is a breeze, and you're out the door before the line even builds. Odds are they're using Square. We love supporting businesses that run on Square because it just feels seamless, whether it's a local coffee shop, a vendor at a pop-up market, or even one of our merch partners. Square makes it easy for them to take payments, manage inventory, and run their business with confidence, all from one simple system.

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19:30Can you hypnotize someone into sleeping with you? I gave her some suggestions to be sexually aroused. Can you get someone to join your cult? NLP was used on me to access my subconscious. Mind Games, a new podcast exploring NLP, a.k.a. neurolinguistic programming. Is it a self-help miracle, a shady hypnosis scam, or both? Listen to Mind Games on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

20:21Listen to Sacred Lessons with Mike Delaroach on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Joel. And Matt. From HowToMoney. If your New Year's resolution is to finally get your finances in shape, we've got your back. Prices, they're still high, and the economy is all over the place. But 2026 is the year for you to get intentional and make real progress. That's right. Each week, we break down what's happening with your money, the most important issues to focus on, and the small moves that make a big difference. Kick off the year with confidence. Listen to How to Money on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

20:59This is Dr. Jesse Mills, host of the Mailroom Podcast. Each January, men promise to get stronger, work harder, and fix what's broken. But what if the real work isn't physical at all? I sat down with psychologist Dr. Steve Poulter to unpack shame, anxiety, and the emotional pain men were never taught how to name. Part of the way through the valley of despair is realizing this has happened. and you have to make a choice whether you're going to stay in it or move forward. Our two-part conversation is available now. Listen to The Mailroom on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.

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